Drawing is one of the most ancient forms of visual art. The medium of drawing is part of us all. It’s our first means of expression and creativity, says Julia Balchin, principal of the Royal Drawing School, London: “As a child, before you can even talk, or walk or read, you can draw. So it’s often our first way of expressing ourselves”.

Drawing has always been vital to every artist’s practice, dating from the Renaissance – when drawing flourished, and Leonardo da Vinci created detailed anatomical studies of the human body – to today.

Though drawing’s popularity has decreased over the centuries, Balchin identifies a deep decrease in the 1970s, when the academic art world saw it as “very unfashionable”.

Drawing is enjoying popularity again – appreciated for its therapeutic qualities and the sense of “flow” it generates, especially since the lockdowns during the pandemic.

The number of students doubled in 2020 from 1,000 students a week to 3,000 today. “I think that showed there was a real longing for human touch and contact,” says Balchin. “If people couldn’t be around other humans, they were drawing them instead.” Students confirmed it helped mental wellbeing.

(Beverley D’Silva. Why drawing is the perfect digital detox.

https://www.bbc.com. 02.07.2023. Acesso em 30.07.2023. Adaptado)

Would you eat food that’s been predigested?

Experts say that’s what we’re doing when we consume many popular packaged foods – those breads, cereals, snack chips and frozen meals that have been refined, heated, melted, shaped, and packed with additives.

A growing body of(*) research suggests that the extent of industrial processing that your food undergoes can alter its effects on your body, determining its impact on your appetite, hormones, weight gain, and likelihood (**) of developing obesity and chronic diseases.

Almost all foods undergo some level of processing. Even fresh vegetables like baby carrots are washed, peeled, cut and packed by machines at processing facilities before they arrive at grocery stores. But ultra-processed foods are transformed from simple ingredients into industrial products with unusual combinations of flavors, additives, and textures, many of which are not found in nature.

Across the globe, governments are embracing the idea that ultra-processed foods are a big contributor to poor health.

(Anahad O’Connor and Aaron Steckelberg. Melted, pounded, extruded:

Why many ultra-processed foods are unhealthy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com. 27.06.2023.

Acesso em 30.07.2023. Adaptado)

(*) A growing body of: quantidade relevante.

(**) likelihood: propensão.

When your alarm goes off in the morning, it’s often easier to start the day with a quick scroll through TikTok, a look at the headlines and a look at what your favorite Instagram influencers are making for their breakfast.

The ease of browsing on your phone first thing in the morning is an easy way to postpone (*) getting out of bed. But, according to neuroscientist Emily McDonald, this is one of many habits which could cause more harm to your brain health.

McDonald has discouraged people from using their phones for the first hour after they wake up because of how it affects brain activity so early in the day.

“As we wake up, brain activity is high in theta and alpha activity (Theta and alpha frequencies both suggest a very relaxed state). Our minds are very susceptible to the information we put into it during this time,” McDonald said.

“Going on the phone will cause brain activity to transition to higher beta power, which primes(**) us for a more stressful day. Starting the day with a phone also provides a big dopamine hit, which leads us to continue to check our phone throughout the day.”

(Allice Collins. Three Things to Avoid to Protect Your Brain,

According to a Neuroscientist.https://www.newsweek.com. 20.06.2023.

Acesso em 28.07.2023. Adaptado)

(*) postpone: adiar.

(**) prime: predispor.

Sign language set to music has become trendy on TikTok, particularly among hearing creators. But with its growing popularity, many deaf and hard of hearing creators, who rely on sign language to communicate, worry that TikTok is allowing incorrect signs to spread like wildfire.

The issue has grown so large that the National Association for the Deaf posted a video last month criticizing the rapid spread of unqualified people teaching incorrect sign language on social media, saying that it’s doing “devastating harm” to the deaf community.

When using sign language, even small changes, such as using the wrong hand shape or moving hands the wrong way, can make a sign unintelligible or give it a different meaning than intended.

The sign language mistakes on social media can be so significant that Kilee Ashton, who is Deaf, said she often can’t understand what someone is trying to say. “It’s ugly to watch,” she said.

Ashton said that she and other deaf people have tried to point out mistakes to creators, but they have been blocked or had their comments deleted.

(Amanda Morris. Fake sign language is spreading on TikTok.

Deaf people are worried.https://www.washingtonpost.com/.

Acesso em: 30.07.2023. Adaptado)

Interviewer: You have become a hero to young people, yet you were bullied as a kid and socially isolated. It must be sort of complicated now that young people who previously didn’t support you are putting you on a pedestal.

Greta Thunberg: Yeah, I was scared of other young people when I first started school striking. So, it was very weird to have other young people join me; it was a very strange feeling. Because I didn’t know how they would react and how they would think.

Interviewer: What can you tell other young people, both those experiencing bullying and maybe those doing the bullying, to help them move to a better place?

Greta Thunberg: Just to those who are experiencing it that you are not alone. There are many, many others who are experiencing this same thing beneath the surface. And it should not be like that. Children can be very, very mean. But being strange is a good thing. I think most people in the climate movement are a bit strange – very much including myself. And that is a good thing because, if you’re not different, you are not able to envision another future, another world. And we need people who are able to think outside the box. So being different is something that should be celebrated.

KK Ottesen. Greta Thunberg on the State of the Climate Movement

(https://www.washingtonpost.com/. Acesso em 23.07.2023. Adaptado)